


Two Soldiers

by ghost_malone



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Character Study, Deviates From Canon, Dialogue Heavy, Family, Family Dynamics, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-20 03:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17614541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghost_malone/pseuds/ghost_malone
Summary: Hana wakes up from a nightmare and follows the smell of tea to an unusual conversation with an enigmatic man.





	Two Soldiers

**Author's Note:**

> There used to be a somewhat(?) popular headcanon that Jack was blind post-Zuric. It's pretty much disproved now but I've always loved that and still use it frequently in my fics and rps with him. This is one of those times!

It was the smell of tea that drew Hana Song from her dormitory at three in the morning. She’d been awake for nearly an hour, having woken suddenly, breathless and sweating from a nightmare she could feel but not remember. Mei was standing over her, her stumpy fingers tenderly gripping Hana's upper arms both to shake her awake and stabilize her when she startled. She looked gray from fear.

"Hana," she whispered, "It's just me. It's okay. You were dreaming. It's just a dream."

The young soldier whimpered, her brain struggling to catch up with the flurry of events storming her senses. It seemed like, instantaneously, she'd been dragged from a place of horror and to the safety of a bed in the middle of nowhere. She shivered from the chill of her sweat-soaked pajamas, her breath caught in her chest.

Mei knew her plight well. Night terrors were something she also struggled with for months after waking alone in the middle of Antarctica, surrounded by her dead friends and colleagues, whose cryogenic chambers failed during their hibernation. They'd run out of supplies and were trapped in a storm. It was their last hope for survival. But it had only been successful for one of them.

With instincts that came from personal experience, she carefully guided Hana to an upright position, rubbing her back in soothing, gentle motions. With her other hand, she produced a glass of water, which Hana drained eagerly. 

She caught her breath with whispered guidance from Mei and, once she felt herself relaxing, sighed deeply.

"Feeling better?" Mei asked.

"Yeah." Hana answered, handing the empty glass back to her. "I'm sorry, Mei, did I wake you?"

"It's okay." The scientist answered quickly, squeezing the girl's arm comfortingly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Hana shook her head. "No, I’m okay." She told her with a warm smile. It was true; she rarely remembered her nightmares, only how they made her feel. There was nothing to talk about.

Mei nodded in understanding. Some things were difficult to explain, especially to strangers. Though she and Hana had bonded during their brief time as roommates, they were still not very close. Their fields of expertise were vastly different and they rarely saw each other outside of bidding each other goodnight and good morning.

"Seriously," Hana assured her roommate with a pat on the hand. "Go back to sleep. I think I'm gonna stay up and read for a while. Thanks for waking me up."

Glancing once more over her young colleague with a sisterly sort of concern, she nodded.

"Okay. Goodnight, Hana. I'll see you tomorrow."

Hana did read for a while as she listened for the telltale slow, even breathing that signaled her dormmate had fallen back asleep. A cute selfie on social media and the odd personality quiz occupied her for another thirty minutes or so. But, even an hour later, she still felt restless. Thoughts of returning to her nightmare world left her throat raw.

But then she smelled something warm and familiar. Peppermint?

The smell penetrated her senses head-on when she poked her head out the door. She heard no voices but, if she closed her eyes and strained her ears, she could just make out the quiet shuffling of someone in the base's community kitchen.

Pulling on slippers and a long sweater, Hana slipped out of her dorm, closing the door soundlessly behind her. She padded down the hall, dragged by both her curiosity and the possibility of friendly company or, at the very least, a hot drink.

When she peered into the kitchen, she wasn't sure who to expect. Ana Amari, former Captain of the original Overwatch, seemed the most likely candidate, being the heaviest tea drinker of the motley crew assembled here. But she also knew the Swiss medic, Dr. Angela Ziegler, had a reputation for skipping sleep when engrossed in interesting research or fine-tuning her Valkyrie suit.

But of all the people she could have seen, the enigmatic Soldier: 76--or perhaps better known as Jack Morrison, original Strike Commander of Overwatch both a global darling and a disgrace--was not remotely who she was expecting. But there he was, in sweatpants and a white undershirt, pouring himself a cup of tea at the kitchen island.

Hana had half a mind to slip away before he noticed her but something about the odd way he moved compelled her to stay and watch, curiously peering from around the corner. Something about the unfocused look in his eyes as he poured without bothering to watch, the way he felt for the sugar container rather than looking to see where it is. The foggy film over his eyes that seemed like such a vivid blue in the photos she'd seen of him...

She shifted her weight between her feet and Jack’s body went rigid. He looked up, ears twitching. Hana jolted, worried she'd been spotted, but he didn't turn her way.

"Who's there?" He barked suddenly, making her jump again. Finally, he turned his head toward Hana. She gasped when she finally made the connection.

"You… can’t see me?” She half whispered, half shouted.

Jack frowned, though he looked more bored than angry. "Oh, it's you." He grunted. "The gamer."

Hana frowned back and folded her arms across her chest. "And, you know, _war hero.”_

"Whatever." Jack snorted, removing the tea bag from his coffee mug. "What do you want?"

"I've never seen you without your visor before." Hana ventured, slipping into the kitchen. Curious, she leaned on the island counter and reached a hand up to Jack's face, waving it gently. He didn't react to it.

"You really _are_ blind." She marveled.

Scowling, Jack reached up and snatched Hana's wrist, jerking her hand away from his face.

"Don't do that." He hissed before relinquishing her hand. "I can _hear,_ you know. And smell you." 

She quickly drew her hand back to her body, nursing her wrist. His face softened when he heard her whimpering grumble and he sighed.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag." He muttered, reaching for his tea. 

"I had no idea." Hana admitted. 

"You wouldn't. I _can_ see with the visor."

"Do other people know?"

"Ana and Angela. And now you, I guess."

"How come you don't tell people?"

Jack frowned. "Because it's nobody else's business."

"How did it happen?"

"Am I in _trouble,_ officer?" Jack snapped. 

 _"Ugh."_ Hana grunted, rolling her eyes. "Forget it. I was just curious."

Jack huffed a sigh and sipped his tea.

"You never answered my question." He replied evenly. "What are you doing here? It's three in the morning."

"Huh? Oh." Hana rubbed her arm self-consciously. "I... couldn't sleep."

"I’m guessing that was you who was screaming down the hall a little while ago?"

"What?!" Hana cried, flushing. "Oh no, was I really that loud?"

"No." He answered, reaching up to tap his ear with his finger. "But I hear everything that happens on this base.” He snorted, sipping his drink. “For better or worse."

Hana looked away, hands on her face, failing to temper her sense of horror at the thought. Several memories of things she would have much preferred a grumpy old man like Morrison never hear flashed to mind all at once. Best not to think too hard about it, she reasoned, trying to scrub the thoughts from her mind.

“What happened?”

“Huh?” Hana blurted, turning back to Jack, who sipped his tea with disinterest.

“That made you scream.” He elaborated. “Spider or nightmare?”

The young girl’s body softened. She wrapped her arms around herself and turned around.

“Nightmare.” She admitted softly. 

"What about?"

 _"Now_ who's sticking their nose in other people’s business." Hana muttered. She saw Jack shrug from the corner of her eye.

"Suit yourself." He replied evenly. 

"What, you're not even gonna try to get me to talk about it?" Hana asked, turning to face the old soldier again.

Jack shrugged once more. "Not my pig, not my farm." He answered easily. "As it happens I have a global reputation for being bad at handling other people's problems. You're probably better off."

Hana's face screwed up in confusion. "What do you mean? You're a hero."

Jack snorted. "Or a militaristic puppet of the UN. Depends who you ask, I guess."

 _"I_ think you're a hero."

Jack said nothing.

"I used to read about you." Hana continued. "All those crazy things you did in the field to protect people. You jumped onto a grenade!"

Holding the mug of tea to his lips, Jack hummed in thought. A smile threatened at the corner of his mouth. "Twice." He corrected. "But the first was a dud, to be fair. It’s why no one ever reports it."

"You even fought off an entire squad of omnics yourself!" Hana added. 

When Jack didn't answer, she paused for a moment. “There was this time back in Busan. Five Gwishin were heading for town and I was the only pilot available. Everyone else was on leave from the last attack. This second one happened so soon…”

She let the sentence trail off and sighed as she refocused. “That day is what I dream about. It’s not always Gwishin, but things like how dark the ocean was. The falling. All the alarms in my MEKA going off at once…”

The room fell silent. Hana wondered if Jack was even listening. She turned around, prepared for another confrontation with the bitter old man. Instead, she was greeted by a steaming cup of tea, held out by the old soldier.

He gave a small nod of encouragement and she took it. It tasted like peppermint and honey.

“Ever since I lost Ana in Poland,” he told her gently, “All my dreams happen there. In that same city. Even now that she’s back. Could be about anything. Doesn’t matter. It’s always in Poland.”

Hana’s throat swelled shut. She felt like she’d stepped into an alternate universe. Before tonight, Soldier: 76 had barely said ten words to her since he joined—or perhaps returned—to Overwatch, and those few words were not kind. He thought her childish, disrespectful and not serious enough relative to her work. _War isn’t a game,_ he told her on their first mission together. His voice had been so icy she still felt the chill from it.

This man seemed entirely different. Vulnerable, even.

“I wasn’t much younger than you when I first joined the Army.” he said as she drank her tea. “You forget that kind of stuff when you get old.”

 _“Tch._ You would know.”

“Watch it, brat. I’m trying to be nice.”

“I know.” Hana said with a mischievous smile, holding the cup of tea in both hands, enjoying the warmth that spread to her palms. “But why?”

Jack gave the question some thought. He drained the rest of his drink and turned toward the sink to wash his mug out.

“Because I’ve been where you are.” He said finally. “I’ve walked that path and I know where it leads. And it’s not something I’d wish on my worst enemy.”

“They promise you glory,” he continued bitterly, drying his hands on a dish rag, his back still to Hana. “They tell you the world _needs_ you. They give you fame and power and a platform. They give you a hideous statue you never asked for. Whatever you want. Go change the world, they say. And then they kill or destroy everyone and everything you’ve ever cared about and blame you for it. No one deserves that. Especially not some kid who should be home playing video games.”

He turned and headed for the hallway, passing Hana as he went. He stopped at the doorway and glanced over his shoulder, milky eyes pointed at the wall beside him.

“You deserve better than this.” He repeated. “This was never meant to be your war.”

Hana studied Jack and felt her heart twist. “You… sound like you’re apologizing.” She said gently.

A painful thought made Jack wince. He shook his head and slipped out of the kitchen.

 _“Wash that mug_ when you’re done.” He grunted as he departed. “If I find it in that sink tomorrow so help me I’ll break the damn thing over your head and make you pick up the pieces."

Hana watched Jack go, clutching the warm mug in her hands. She finished the drink quietly and, when she heard the old soldier's bedroom door slide shut, placed the empty mug in the sink and tiptoed back to bed.


End file.
